Department of Health and Social Care

Coronavirus: Sutton Coldfield

Mr Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many doses of a covid-19 vaccine had been received by people in Sutton Coldfield constituency on the most recent date for which information is available.

Nadhim Zahawi: NHS England and NHS Improvement publishes weekly data on vaccination totals, including by constituency, at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/covid-19-vaccinations/

Coronavirus: Staffordshire

Jonathan Gullis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on rolling out the covid-19 vaccine in (a) Stoke-on-Trent and (b) Staffordshire.

Nadhim Zahawi: NHS England and NHS Improvement publishes weekly data on vaccination totals, including by local authority, at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/covid-19-vaccinations/

Coronavirus: Sefton

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of covid-19 vaccines administered each day are administered in Sefton.

Nadhim Zahawi: We do not hold daily data on vaccination totals by local authority.In England, Public Health England publish daily data on the total first and second doses given to date by region of residence. NHS England and NHS Improvement release a weekly publication of vaccination data across additional cohorts, which from 25 February 2021 includes data by parliamentary constituency and by Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships / Integrated Care Systems area.This data is available via the following links:https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/vaccinationswww.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/covid-19-vaccinations/

Coronavirus: North West

Christian Matheson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many covid-19 vaccinations have been administered by parliamentary constituency in the North West region as of 20 January 2021.

Nadhim Zahawi: In England, Public Health England publish daily data on the total first and second doses given to date by region of residence. NHS England and NHS Improvement release a weekly publication of vaccination data across additional cohorts, which from 25 February 2021 includes data by parliamentary constituency and by Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships / Integrated Care Systems area.This data is available via the following links:https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/vaccinationswww.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/covid-19-vaccinations/

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Ian Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he estimates that people in priority groups one and two will have received their (a) first and (b) second covid-19 vaccine.

Nadhim Zahawi: Everyone in the top four priority cohorts was offered their first dose by 15 February. The Government will ensure everyone will be able to access their second COVID-19 vaccine within the specified time limit as outlined in the United Kingdom COVID-19 vaccine delivery plan. Local National Health Service delivery plans are ensuring second doses are given in line with timescales set out by the independent regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, and advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation. Everyone will be offered a second dose within 12 weeks of their first. Therefore, we would expect all people in priority groups one and two to be offered the opportunity to receive their second dose by mid-May.The National Health Service across the United Kingdom will continue prioritising the first dose of the vaccine to those in the most high-risk groups; however, this will not interfere with everyone receiving their second dose within 12 weeks of their first.Further information can be found in the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/letter-from-the-health-and-social-care-secretary-on-covid-19-vaccination-to-protect-severely-immunosuppressed-adults/letter-from-jcvi-on-considerations-on-covid-19-vaccination-of-adult-household-contacts-of-severely-immunosuppressed-adults-24-march-2021

Coronavirus: Screening

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of not requiring covid-19 testing for hospital discharges into the community where care is not required on rates of community covid-19 transmission.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies  discussed the effect that discharging patients from hospital into the community without testing had on COVID-19 community infection rates when considering nosocomial infections.  It found that while  this likely drove onward community transmission during the first wave of COVID-19 infections, it was less likely to do so during a second wave, due to the improved infection control measures implemented in hospitals.

Gambling: Health Services

Mr Richard Holden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress has been made on increasing NHS support for people with gambling addiction.

Jo Churchill: The NHS Long Term Plan made a commitment to expand the geographical coverage of NHS services for people with serious gambling problems.In addition to the existing National Problem Gambling Clinic in London, the National Health Service has committed to opening an additional 14 new problem gambling clinics by 2023/24. The NHS Northern Gambling Service in Leeds opened in 2019 and now has satellite sites in Manchester and Sunderland. The NHS Mental Health Implementation Plan has committed to spending  up to £15 million on gambling-related harms by 2023/24.As part of the NHS Long Term Plan, NHS England and NHS Improvement are improving referral routes for mental health services in primary care, by focusing on the integration of services.The NHS continue to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the NHS Long Term Plan commitments and timescales outlined above.

Department for Education

Department for Education: Iron and Steel

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the level of UK-produced steel procured by his Department and associated departmental public bodies and agencies in (a) 2019-20 and (b) 2020-21.

Nick Gibb: The Government is working with the steel industry, the unions and devolved administrations to support the UK steel sector to develop a long-term sustainable future. This includes making sure that UK producers of steel have the best possible chance of competing for and winning contracts across all Government procurement.The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) collates and publishes annually information on how much steel is purchased for the Government’s major infrastructure projects in the previous financial year, including what proportion is UK-produced.BEIS has collated the 2019/20 data and expect to publish later this year. BEIS will start collating the data on UK steel procured in 2020/21 in due course.

COP26

Coal: Mining

Imran Ahmad Khan: To ask the President of COP26, what engagements he has had with former coal mining communities in the run up to COP26.

Alok Sharma: Through the UK Mayors and Regions Advisory Council, which met most recently on 15 March, I have met with mayors and local leaders from across the UK, including those from former coal mining communities such as the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.As Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy I set up the Green Jobs Taskforce, which is working in partnership with business, skills providers, and unions, to help us develop plans for long-term, good quality green jobs, and support transitioning industries, such as coal.Internationally, the UK is bringing together the leading global actors in the power sector through the COP26 Energy Transition Council and the Powering Past Coal Alliance, to support countries to more equitably transition away from coal.

Climate Change

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the President of COP26, what steps he is taking to ensure that the formulation of his policy is evidence based.

Alok Sharma: All climate-related work for COP26 is informed by the best available science, encapsulated in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports. The IPCC reports are the primary tool for providing the best available science to the UNFCCC. The first part of the IPCC’s 6th Assessment Report is due to be released this year, and its findings will inform the negotiations and the wider COP26 conference.We are also working with leading experts including a global group of Friends of COP, who are sharing their expertise in support of a successful summit.

Home Office

Drugs: Organised Crime

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps her Department has taken to protect vulnerable children from county lines drugs networks in (a) Slough and (b) the South East.

Victoria Atkins: The Government recognises the devastating impact of county lines activity on children and vulnerable people.We are determined to disrupt these ruthless gangs and put an end to exploitation. In January we announced £40 million of new money to tackle county lines and drugs supply in the financial year 2021/22. This will bring the total invested in tackling this threat to £65 million since November 2019.Through our £25m county lines programme we have already seen 3,400 people arrested, more than 550 lines closed and more than 770 vulnerable people safeguarded. We are also investing £105.5m into 18 Violence Reduction Units (VRUs) until March 2022 to tackle the root causes of serious violence via a whole system approach which can include activity to prevent and support victims of county lines.Thames Valley VRU, backed by £3.48m investment to develop and sustain their VRU in reducing serious violence, are also targeting and supporting victims of county lines. For example, Thames Valley have established an enhanced information sharing network, which shares information on young people that might be at risk of county lines with specialist departments. The VRU can then provide support for those young people by introducing early intervention strategies embedded within the trauma informed approach. In addition, we have extended the specialist support available for those affected by county lines exploitation and we continue to fund Missing People’s SafeCall service which provides confidential, specialist advice and support to young people and their families/carers who are affected by county lines exploitation anywhere in England and Wales.

Cabinet Office

National Identity

Sir George Howarth: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the Government's policy on what constitutes British values; and what mechanisms are in place to ensure that such values are taken into account when developing Government policy.

Julia Lopez: The British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance are a fundamental part of the work of Government. Ministers are accountable to Parliament for the policies, decisions and actions of their departments and agencies.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Pornography: Internet

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will take steps to ensure that forthcoming legislative proposals on preventing children's exposure to pornographic content online apply equally to all pornographic websites accessible by children.

Caroline Dinenage: Protecting children is at the heart of our online harms agenda, and wider government priorities. Under our proposals, social media, websites, apps and other services which host user-generated content or facilitate online user interaction (including video and image sharing, commenting and live streaming) will be subject to a duty of care, giving them new responsibilities towards their users. The online harms regime will capture both the most visited pornography sites and pornography on social media, therefore covering the vast majority of sites where children are most likely to be exposed to pornography. We expect companies to use age assurance or age verification technologies to prevent children from accessing services which pose the highest risk of harm to children, such as online pornography. We are working closely with stakeholders across industry to establish the right conditions for the market to deliver age assurance and age verification technical solutions ahead of the legislative requirements coming into force.